Speech Delay

[riab]

Does anyone know how I go about getting a referal to a speech therapist?

DS (18 months next week) doens't talk at all, nor does he recognise any words. He is bright as a butotn in other ways but I'm getting sick of people telling me he will be fine and that they know lots of kids who weren't talking at this age.

he simply doesn't do words at all, he doesn't respond to his name, he doens't say mama, he doesn't respond if you say milk or toast or ball.

He's not interested in reading or listening to stories and he doens't join in singing and clapping games.

every site I've found says he should be able to understand simple questions or sentance like 'where's teddy' or 'here's your milk' and be able to say a few words.

its not event hat he has his own sounds he uses instead, we though he learnt byebye (well its mroe like byba) about 2 months ago but he just learnt the sound, he uses it for all kinds of situations, like he'll wander out into the hall and i hear him going 'byebye' on his own out there

Starting to get quite worried

[moondog]

Riab,I am a speech and lang therapist.
At this stage,HV is usually first port of call.They know enough to carry out a basic screening and if call for concern,refer the baby.
Do you see your HV?
I would advise you to do so to discuss your concerns.

Cause for mild concern-only mild at this stage though.

[riab]

thanks for swift response moondog,

HV came out at 15 months because I was concerned then. She said his motor skills were very advanced (2yrs) but his speech was only at about 6-12 months.

We checked his hearing again (fine) and she said that if he wasn't talking by 18mo it might be worrying.

Since then his motor skills (fine and gross) have continued to improve so that he frequently plays with older kids and older kids toys, but he shows no interest in language, its sparked soem right tempers when he points and points and I've no idea what he wants.

He's due for an 18mo check soon - should I ring HV and get that asap?

[moondog]

Yes Riab,I would as SALT waiting lists are very long indeed.Sometimes up to a year but there are targets to be met for initial assessment,so he would be seen pretty soon,which should put your mind at rest.

Still very young.At this stage,best thing you can do is love him,talk to him,play with him (lots of imaginary play-tea parties and so on)and sing to him.

Try and keep TV to a minimum too.It's fine but don;t let him get lost in it.

[SoupDragon]

Hijack... Moondog, when you say there are targets to be met for initial assessment, does this mean that someone should see your child, say whether or not there is a problem and then you wait for SALT?

[Oracle]

Two things is his hearing OK? Has it been checked and has the HV done a CHAT test? If not ask for one.

Oracle

[colditz]

You could be tal;king about my ds1 at that age. He is now 3.5 and his speech is delayed, he does have problems with pronunciation. But he has no problems with comprehension.

My advice would be to sit opposite him, pull some funny faces, get him laughing, then see if you can get him to copy noises that you make. Every time he copies the noise you make, 'jump' in shock. Little boys are often delighted that they are scaring you. It might temp him to make some noises over and over again. You can then see if he can play 'BOO', 'PEEPO', SWIM?

I really feel your pain - at that age ds1 could take the batteries out of the remote and put them back in - but he couldn't say mummy.

[Socci]

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[moondog]

Yes Soupy,generally so.
(Means no nasty figures to go back to govt. mandarins y'see because technically everyone has been seen,even if they then have to wait even longer for therapy.)

Yes Riab,Socci's reference to pointing is important. Godd info there.

[SoupDragon]

Hijack... Thanks Got HV to refer DS2 a month ago and haven't heard anything at all - from what she said, I expected to get a letter saying "DS2 has been referred, we'll get back to you in a year or so". Will mention it next time I get DD weighed.

[NiceCupOfTea]

My DS2 was pretty similar to yours at the same age; he had no interest in talking until he was nearly 3 and the only pointing he did was at the fridge when he was hungry. I was worried sick and convinced myself something was terribly 'wrong'. Now he's a stroppy 5-yr-old & his language delay has gone (we have SLT for speech sounds). PLEASE, PLEASE don't worry, it's hard not to but it's like some young children just can't be bothered to talk when everyone else can do it for them.

[Socci]

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[beckybrastraps]

Hi riab.

My dd made no sounds at 18mo. I went to the HV and she referred her for hearing tests. They were done within a month and were fine, although the doctor said she could have had an episode of glue ear that cleared spontaneously. Saw the HV visitor again and she did a short assessment that suggested she did understand language, although she didn't produce any. She didn't start talking really until 2.3, and now (2.8) has about 200 words. She's being seen by the HV again in 2 weeks, as I'm concerned about how intelligible she is. See your HV and get him into the system now. My HV said better to make a big fuss at the beginning and then find out everything is fine than leave it for ages and join the back of the waiting list. Good luck!

[sydneygirl]

DS1 was "born talking" - never shut up! DS2 however is complete opposite. He has his own language of "ah ah ah ah ah", all said with different intonation, so we actually understand... for example if he tried to say "tractor" then it would be "AH ah" IYSWIM. HV worried us by saying he should be on the waiting list for speech therapy (we are in Oz) but in the past week we have had about 7-ish words, although the first letter is always silent. So for pram, we get "am". But that's good enough for us!! He'll be two next month. sorry for rambling, just thought I'd share our experiences with you.

[Nemo1977]

Riab have similair problems with my ds. He is nearly 3 now and still on the SALT waiting list..been on it about 6mths I think. He is very advanced in motor skills etc and even in his intellect but he does not speak very well at all and never has done. I was always told he would catch up etc but he hasnt yet. I would go and see HV asap and ask for a refferal as it takes ages.

[riab]

He does point and he will point towards the table if he wants something on it. He also seems to do wha I heard called declarative pointing when we are out in the pram - ie pointing at birds.

He's had a hearing test recently - they did get tha checked out and his hearing is fine.

he plays peekaboo - but as he'll play it with or without me saying the words I think its the action of putting the blanket over his head he responds to.

i've no worries about his general intelligence. Like colditz he can do all kinds of clever manipulative things like put batteries inot his monitor, open bottles, put the cap back onto water bottles etc. But can't say mama or hiya.

[Socci]

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[beckybrastraps]

My dd wouldn't have said "woof" at 18mo, because she didn't say anything! But she did point. ANd managed to make her views felt it has to be said!

[PeachyClairHasBadHair]

Hi riab.

My ds3 is much like your son, he was 3 in July yet has only just learned to say anything or point, and still only responds to his name sometimes. SALT won't see him yet though as they feel he has a good chance of improving- I think he does too TBH as he has made some gains, but it's un nerving isn't it?

Have you seen the baby einstein DVD's? They'r great for learning words (with the tag along books)- a kid of interactive blackboard iyswim, my older two liked them frm about 6 months.

Does he like CBBC or anything? Interact with the TV? Ds has just started to do this, as his language has started to develop.

[cuillan]

Phew i'm not alone!!! My son is 2 and the only words he uses are dada, muuum and alot of aahhs, yep an awful lot of aahhs!! He also points alot and gets everything he needs by this method. At the moment we've had one appointment with a speech therapist & have been referred for a hearing test, a speech & language group & to see a paediatrician about his overall development of which i have no concerns. I'm just feeling so frustrated and quite sad that i can't have a conversation with him , unlike his sister who was also born talking !!! I was told that the waiting list for speech therapy was long, hence my HV referring early, but luckily an appointment was sent within a couple of months for him to be assessed . I agree also, ask for a referral to a speech therapist if you are worried!!!

[TooTicky]

riab, thissoundsso much like my ds2. The motherdoes know when there isaproblem - I knew early on, but wasn't sure how to progress. In the endI requesteda hearing test (which wasfine) andwent from there to SALT. Heattended a course of group sessionsaftera wait of several months andwas then seen at playgroup by a therapist. He's now nearly 5 and gets visited by a therapist in school onceaweek. He talksa lot now but isstill hard to understand unless you know him - but this isa miracle when I think that he didn't even put two words together until hewas 3! Definitely see your HV.
(excuse compoundwords - space bar isplaying up)

[Socci]

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[moondog]

You're right Socci.They do only the most rudimentary training.
However some have a good 'feel' for it,but you have to remember that even if they do have concerns,they are not really allowed to express them.Professional boundaries and all that.

Thus,if worried,general rule of thumb is to override the HV if she doesn't think a referral is necessary,and insist on one.

We SALTS hold great store by a mother's instincts.

What we do find though is that our HVs over refere so we hae to wade through assessments with kids who have nowt wrong with them!

[Socci]

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[moondog]

Hmmm,it's just so difficult.Everyone is terrified about speaking out of turn (esp. with stuff like ASD)
Even among SALTS there are incredibly complex rules and regualtions about who can diagnose a lang. disorder.

In context,seems more understandable.20-30 years ago,you would have had all sorts telling people there children were Autistic and so on.

Feeling amongst NHS bods is that this has to be very carefully controlled for fear of doing massive psychological damage.
In my trust,every single employee (even porters) has to have 'Breking Bad News' training on whys and hows of giving and dealing with difficulties/diagnosis.

Sorry,I don't mean they shouldn't express concerns,just that they shouldn't be saying 'Yes,there is a problem' or whatever.
They should be referring on.

[tiptoes]

On the subject of HV ours got it completly wrong.
On assessing my ds then 3 she thought because he did,nt talk when she visited their was some underlying neglect going on within the home.I had been suffering from PND and panic atacks and she hinted that I had caused my ds's problems.She came to the home one day and without any research said that ds had dyspraxia and in no uncertain terms I had caused it.
To cut a long story short ,when he started pre school and then reception his speech delay was diagnoised by a SALT and also he presented with selective mutism.Which we now know was why ds was not talking on the HV visits to the home.
The SALT was brilliant and explained that I was not the cause of ds's problems and continues to support us.

I wish at the time I had complained about this HV as I would hate to think she is doing the same to another unsuspecting mother and putting her through the anguish we went through.

Sorry riab,back to your original post your ds sounds just like mine at that age.
Have you managed to get a referral yet?
It is worrying and something i know i took for granted that all children will just talk when they are reday as we were repeatidly told by others.

Hope you get some answers soon.